On his Ann Arbor News blog, local high school sportswriter Rich Rezler posted about a recent press release from the MHSAA; beginning next year, high school officials in a variety of sports will have the option of taking an online rules test. For the edification of his readers, Rezler posted ten sample questions from the football test; so that my readers won’t be forced to view the practical and aesthetic disaster that is MLive, I’m posting those same questions here.
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Scenario 1. Team B is leading 21-20 with five seconds left in the fourth quarter. Team A has the ball on the B15 yard line. A1 drops to pass; in an attempt to get open, A80 pushes B30 in the end zone, freeing himself to catch A1’s pass in the end zone as time expires. The correct ruling on this play is…
A. Legal play; touchdown with Team A winning, 26-21.
B. Offensive pass interference; Team A is penalized 15 yards from the previous spot and there will be one additional untimed down.
C. Offensive pass interference; if Team B accepts the penalty, the game is over with Team B winning 21-20.
D. None of the above.
Scenario 2. Varsity game is tied 28-28 at the end of regulation. On the first play of overtime, Team A drops to pass and throws an interception to B17, who returns the ball 92 yards for an apparent touchdown. The correct ruling on the play is…
A. The ball became dead as soon as Team B gained possession; Team A’s possession has now ended, First and 10 for Team B at the 10 yard line.
B. The game is over; Team B wins by virtue of the touchdown, 34-28.
C. The game could not go into overtime as overtime is only allowed at the sub-varsity level.
D. None of the above.
Scenario 3. One second left in the fourth quarter with the score tied at 7-7 in a driving rainstorm. Team A lines up for a 50-yard field goal attempt with Team B putting a return man (B2) back near the goal line. The kick is well short, and the ball has nearly rolled to a stop at the 7-yard line. B2 attempts to recover the ball, but because it is so wet, the ball is never possessed and it squirts back to the 4-yard line. Now players from both teams unsuccessfully attempt to the recover the ball, and the ball is muffed back into the end zone where A1, the kicker, finally possesses the ball as he falls on it in the end zone. The correct ruling on this play is…
A. Game over; Team A wins 13-7.
B. Since the ball was never possessed, the status of the ball is still a kick. When a kick crosses the goal line, the ball becomes dead immediately. Touchback and game goes into overtime.
C. The ball became dead as soon as it was apparent that the field goal was unsuccessful; the game goes into overtime.
D. None of the above.
Scenario 4. Second down and 10 from the A40 yard line. Wide receiver A80 blocks safety B25 as the quarterback throws the ball. B10 intercepts the ball and returns it for a 50 yard touchdown. What is the correct ruling on this play?
A. Touchdown for Team B; they may have the offensive pass interference (OPI) foul enforced either on the point after touchdown attempt or kickoff.
B. Touchdown for Team B; they must decline the penalty for OPI if they wish to keep the touchdown.
C. Since the foul by A occurred before the interception, Team A is penalized 15 yards from the previous spot and Team A keeps the ball, 3rd down and 25 from the A25.
D. None of the above.
Scenario 5. On a field goal attempt, the snap is muffed and the ball is rolling near the 10-yard line. The kicker, who also plays soccer, kicks the rolling ball off the ground and through the uprights. The correct ruling on the play is…
A. Successful field goal; score 3 points.
B. Foul for an illegal kick; if the penalty is accepted, penalize 15 yards from the previous spot and replay the down. If the penalty is declined, the field goal is good, score 3 points.
C. Foul for an illegal kick; if the penalty is accepted, penalize 15 yards from the previous spot and replay the down. If the penalty is declined, the result of the play is a touchback by virtue of the illegal kick.
D. None of the above.
Scenario 6. Late in the game, Team A trails by six points and is out of timeouts. Quarterback A7 scrambles from the pocket and runs beyond the line of scrimmage. He cannot get out of bounds, and in an effort to get the clock stopped instead of being tackled inbounds, he throws the ball forward to the ground. The correct ruling on this play is…
A. Illegal forward pass; 5-yard penalty from the previous spot, loss of down and the clock starts on the snap.
B. Illegal forward pass; 5-yard penalty from the spot of the pass, loss of down and the clock starts on the snap.
C. Illegal forward pass; 5-yard penalty from the spot of the pass, loss of down and the clock starts on the ready for play.
D. None of the above.
Scenario 7. A pass is thrown high to receiver A92. A92 jumps high to catch the ball, gains possession, but is pushed by B16 and A92’s feet land out of bounds. The correct ruling on this play is…
A. Legal catch if the official believed A92 would have landed inbounds had no push occurred.
B. Incomplete pass; A92 must get at least one foot inbounds.
C. None of the above.
Scenario 8. The game is tied and on the last play of the fourth quarter, defender B50 is flagged for a late hit. Team A wins the toss in overtime and elects to go on defense first. Team B will begin overtime…
A. First and 10 from the 10 yard line; fouls can never carry over from regulation to overtime.
B. First and 10 from the 25 yard line; dead ball fouls can carry over from regulation to overtime.
C. The officials made an error; Team A should have been given one untimed down in regulation due to Team B’s foul.
D. None of the above.
Scenario 9. Team A attempts a field goal into a very strong wind. The ball passes between the uprights and over the cross bar, but the wind blows the ball back through the goal posts, landing in the end zone. The correct ruling on this play is…
A. The field goal is no good; the ball must pass through and remain beyond the goal posts.
B. The field goal is good only if the ball was blown back through the uprights and over the cross bar.
C. The field goal is good as the ball only needs to break the plane of the goal posts.
D. None of the above.
Scenario 10. MHSAA playoff game. The visiting team runs a play, which is followed immediately by the home team’s band playing the school fight song. The band must stop playing…
A. Whenever it feels like it; there is no regulation that deals with bands.
B. When the visiting team breaks the offensive huddle or when the ball is marked ready for play if the visitors are using a “no huddle offense.”
C. The home team band may play as long as the visiting team band is playing at the same time.
D. None of the above.
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The answers are below; be sure to finish the test before you proceed past this point.
If you do take the test, leave your score in the comments; I’m looking forward to seeing the results.
Answers:
1. C
2. A
3. B
4. B
5. C
6. C
7. A
8. D
9. C
10. B
I got 6 right – I missed 2,3,6,8, but I haven’t watched high school football in years and don’t know anything about high school OT rules, so I’m pretty comfortable with my score. Could I be a ref?
Got 7 right – missed 3, 5, 8
I would just like to know what 8 is if it is “None of the above”. I chose “C”, but then perhaps that is a pro rule only or it the late hit was after the whistle, then regulation was over – but it still seems the foul has to be tkaen into account.
missed 5,7,8,10. I also would like to know answer to 8. If it were a defensive penalty during the play (holding), you definitely have an untimed down.
Ah, yes, number 8. Rezler got that one wrong, too, and since “none of the above” isn’t too informative, he asked the MHSAA for the correct answer. They said:
“The answer is First and Goal at the 25. The dead ball foul at the end of regulation can carry into overtime, but you never have First and 10 in overtime…it’s always first and goal.”
By the way, I also got number 8 wrong.
Man I hate getting things like this wrong. I missed 1, 3, 7, and 8. I was hoping the push out wasn’t a rule in high school. It’s such a hard rule to judge on.
I got 1,4,6,7, and 9 correct.
I’ve got a good question.
What if a player makes a 41 yard run in a playoff game and his knee hits at the 3 yard line. The ref on the field spots the ball at the 1 yard line saying the runner’s knee hit before the ball broke the plane of the goal line. You, on the other hand, have a better view from atop the press box 55 yards away and you can clearly see that your son scored a touchdown on the play. Do you…
A. Scream profanity at the top of your lungs to tell the ref he’s blind, even though he can’t hear you, but the president of the school board can because he’s only 6 feet below you.
B. Hurl your camera, with the game film still in it, at the field only to have it land 35 yards short and take out the mascot and a near-by photographer.
C. Don’t say a word, pretend it doesn’t matter, then yell at your kid when he gets home.
D. Grab the microphone from the announcer and yell, “Make it fair for the kids!!!!” because you know that ref has had it out for your kid all game.
E. All of the above (your a sick sick person).
Oh BTW, I forgot. I got 4 correct on the MHSAA scenarios, but I can see better at 60 yards than a football ref can from 5 yards and I can call balls and strikes better from a dugout than an umpire can from behind home plate.